PZG302

That is a nice unit. Was being a bit facicious about the safe ride, one the guys I work with has a late 50's Chev Bel Air and I give him a bit of crap about it and the 454 he has shoe horned into it and how safe a ride it would be due to the lack of speed in the Chev compared to the Z, the MX5, the Charger and the XR8 ute. As you may see I'm not a fan of GM, much prefer my Mopar for a fun ride.

So he has a nice safe ride then??

I'd have to say, 5 minutes from home I'm on one of my favourites, Mt Glorious rd, through Mt Nebo and then down to Samford. Also the roads through the Gold Coast and Sunny coast hinterlands. Havinga choice of cars does spoil me for the best roads: MX5 - topless driving on crisp sunny mornings with plenty of twists and turns. XR8 Ute - over the range and the more open roads with sweeping bends and nice long straights that let you open the Boss up and stretch it's legs. Charger - well any type of road, once the resto is finished Another coupleof favourites from when I lived in Sydney: Bell's Line of Road over the mountains The road through Kangaroo Valley Royal National Park and the back road from Gosford through Mangrove Mountain and onto Wisemans Ferry.

Buy it!!!!!!! If I had a spare 5K I would take it off your hands immediately, I've always liked the notched backs with the Aussie racing history, Leo Geoghan and Norm Beechy raced notch backs quite successfully in Improved Production. Don't talk myself into it, I have no room and the Charger is getting close to completion and needs the dollars......... Please don't talk myself into it, I have no room and the Charger is getting close to completion and needs the dollars......... :-\ :-\

You can make tow hooks pretty easy. Mine are as follows: Front - flat 5mm bar bolts onto chassis rail at front, a couple of handy bolts already there and then passes through the brake duct of the MKII front spoiler I run. It is about 60mm wide and has a 40mm hole in it. It's stong enough to have pulled me out of a few sandtraps over the years. Rear - Flat 5mm bar that is bent at 90 degrees. Bolts into the rear bar mount on the right hand side using the exeisting bumper bolts, again 40mm hole and is strong enough to pull the car from sandtraps. They were painted red with cheap spray can and meet CAMS requirements.

They would only be checking the alignment and basically looking at adjusting toe at the track, well that's all I have ever done anywhere but on a proper aligner. To get the set up right the aluminium is cut or marked to suit the alignment initially done on an accurate machine and these are matched at the track. It is quite easy to do the adjustment on the car for a wheel alignment, where the skill is is in knowing what to adjust the settings to and knowing how to get the right settings for each car, for racing I measure tyre temps across the width of the tyre, measure the tread wear across the face and the edge, look for feathering of the edges, inside and out. I also get my alignment for the race car done with me sitting in it to get the alignment as close as possible to optimum. I am also of the opinion that these guys go to tech for 4 years to learn about this stuff, and the good mechanics don't stop learning, so they know a lot more about setting up a car than I do.

I'm a bit worried about the size of tyres you want to run. A 215 tyre should be on a 8.5 inch rim maximum and a 235 should be on a maximum width of 9 inch. A stretch tyre might look good to some, but I wouldn't want to be driving hard on it as the sidewall of the tyre can't do it's job. For a good rim on the z with standard strut setup and 8 inch rim with any width tyre from a 205 to a 245 would be good. The final width would be dependant on the final rim size for diameter and also the tyre brand you choose and the avialbility of sizes in that tyre.

From what I've told by the bloke that took the Lotus to the beaters, it's not in too good a shape. It's up on the aligner to see how bad, but the cage looks like it has a crease in it so not looking good at this stage. The Z is pretty much stuffed, but until it gets to a decent shop it won't be known if it is fixable. I would say both are very lucky to walk away. I would like to run, but from what happened this year and last year in terms of the number of races to try to get through to keep everyone happy it becomes a bit of a logistaical nightmare with so much time lost that I think I can get better value for money else where. I guess I'm also lucky in that whilst I haven't raced I have had plenty of hot laps driving the medical car up there for the ARDC.

You can either go the Toyo Proxes or you should also be able to get Yoki's in a 14 in whatever tyre the Improved Production boys run now. Others to look for include Bridgestone, Hankook and Khumo. To get the best tyre for your needs phone you closest motorsport tyre dealer and they will put you onto the best tyre for your needs that suit the rims. Just be sitting down when they tell you the price ;D

I wouldn't use early MX5 seats. I have an 89 NA6 MX5 and my shoulders blades are actually outside the seat. It isn't much fun when driving the way it was meant to be at the moment, well it still is but i slide around a lot. My old race seat will end up in the 5 for more support. From memory the NA and NB seats are pretty similar, not sure about the NC seats though they would be exxy as they are still fairly new. They also don't offer much support for your back or legs for a long trip. I had to drive it from Sydney to Brisbane when I bought it and it was one of the most uncomfortable, yet fun, drives I have done.

Not in my Willwoods, it's basically the pistons and that's it, From memory just some rubber o rings as they are a pure racing caliper not really suitable for road use at all unless you want to pull them down every coupleof weeks. As I said I pull them down after every wet meeting. I also pull them down when I change pads to make sure all is OK. For what you pay for them they are quite disaapointing when you look at the quality of the castinbg and general finish.

Dust seals are needed for the reliability of the brakes. I run Wilwood 4 spot calipers in the front of my Z and need to strip and clean the calipers every time I run in the wet to make sure that any gunk that get into pistons is cleaned out so there is no chance of getting into the caliper bore and scratching. Once that happens then you may not be stopping as the fuid can get out without pushing the piston along. Not fun when pulling up at turn 2 at Eastern Creek.

Definately worth it it for a performance motor, especially for a long motor like a L6. On the L4's I have had I was able to get away without one as the crankshaft harmonics are no where near as bad as those in the 6's.

If you are getting the bottom end balanced have it done for a maximum of 7500 - 800rpm. Gives a bit more of a factor of safety. Depending on cam you will get max power around 6800, but may want to spin it to about 7200 to get the most out of the motor on the track, or a quick traffic light Grand Prix It is also worth getting the best harmonic balancer you can. I run a Ross balancer on my motor and no problems in 5 race seasons. Previously we did have dramas with the standard balancer we had to run with the crank angle sensor for the standard computer, but once the Haltech was fitted we were able to swap over the Ross balancer we have had no problems at all. Personally, I have never worried about balancing the bottom end of a L series motor yet, either 6 or 4 and have yet to blow a motor due to any balance problems. I use standard rods and cranks no problems. However I am not chasing huge power, just plenty of torque and taking advantage of the gear sets I have and the light weight of the car, 960kg ready to go, plus me at 100-110kg, and still about 30kg to come out if I reallty want to. The motor will be spending most of its life around the 3500-5500 range so you wantr a nice torque spread for this. Also the motor will "talk to you" in that the the note will change very dramatically when it's had enough. Mine goes from a very nice note to a tortured scream at 7500, definately time to change up. You will also feel when the motor needs the next gear pretty easliy.

As Lurch and ZR40 have said don't bother with the stroker, just bore it out and get a set of flat top pistons. Work the N42 head as this will leave some room so you can still use pump fuel with a reasonable but not silly amount of compression as you have said you will do. On Injection this combo gave me a very streetable and torquey L29 and a bit. I could get a way with a 76 degree cam as it was a race motor only and the injection takes away a little of the lumpiness in a cam compared to triples. For cam for the street as suggested before either a 72 degree, or as I have used on a L16 quite successfully a 65-25 grind. I only have a stroker now because thge workshop that fettled my car had one come up in a messy estate paying out bills owed when a cutomer passed away a few years ago. The spare motors I have, the old race bottom end, another N42 head off Ebay, plus 2 complete L28's, 1x N42/N42 combo, the other F54/N42, will all be readied to run at 3mm overbore as flat top pistons are pretty readily available to do this and I will still be using the standard bottom ends. Fu according to the famous L series engine program your combo will give you the following: 89mm bore flat top pistons and N42 head Capacity of 2949cc with a compression ratio of 10.36:1 using standard head ghasket. This will be a very nice motor that will give you years of reliable service.

I wouldn't worry too much about the bottom end, just make sure the bearings are all good and don't muck around with the crankshaft. Most L series crank failures I've seen have been when the cranks have been balanced or knife edged. My motors have always just used standard cranks and rods with no problems. Though I only rev my motors to about 7200. New water pump would be a good idea , but may also be worth looking at one of the new electronically controlled water pumps to control flow. For what you want a 74 degree cam would work, but could still be a little peaky. I have susccessfully used a 65-25 grind on a 4 cylinder L series and produced gtood power from about 3500 through to 6500, a pretty good range for a road motor. If anything I would be leaning to a motor with a wide torque band rather than an all out screamer that becomes too peaky to drive on the road.

For a road car I would avoid suede. I have had two suede wheels on road cars and after six months they are horrible due to the oils in your hands and way too much maintenance to keep looking good. After a couple of years the suede was very hard and offered no grip plus in hunmid weather would leave my hands a horrible red, the same colour as the wheel. On all my road cars I use leather steering wheels. My road cars are: XR8 ute - standard Momo leather wheel from ford Mazda MX5 - standard Momo leather wheel from Mazda XD ute - Sparco racing wheel - leather VH Charger - still under restoration, but have leather Autotechnica wheel to go on when ready For the Z, it is a Personal Suede wheel, however the Z is only driven in anger on a track with gloves. The only time it is driven without gloves is to move it or put it on the trailer, and even then usually a towel is thrown over the wheel to protect it. I have had the steering wheel for over ten years and it still looks as good as new.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the age of the carby as long as they are in good condition and can be rebuilt. I have just bought a set for my charger, just under $2800, for the three 45mm carbies, manifold, linkages, trumpets and jetted to suit a warm 265 to give a good starting point for the dyno tune. All the carbies are the same series, which is all I would really be worried about. Between the different series you will get small variations in flow, but a good tuner will nullify these and get the set running sweet. Also different set ups also ran mis-matched numbers, for example the six pack Chargers ran a different rear carby series to the two front ones as the flow was slightly different for the two rear cylinders, and that was without any vacuum plumbing as the VH Chargers ran un boosted brakes standard for the E38's and E37's. Chrylser spent a lot of time and money in sending a VG Valiant over to Italy to get the tune just right for the production version.

Adam, For a road car the difference won't be too much between good quality rims that are only a few kg apart. If you are really serious about unsprung weight then you will also be looking at saving weight with changing your standard brakes for light weight calipers and hubs with nice two piece rotors and hats to reduce the weight. Reducing unsprung weight really only becomes and issue with race cars where a small weight cahange can really upset the balance of a highly tuned suspension system, think open wheelers and some sports cars (Le Mans prototypes). I run Simmons wheels as my dry set up which weigh around 8-9kg. I couls have go the light weight rims fitted to the centre which would have saved me about 2kg a wheel, but the trade off is strength. I wasn't chasing the time that the weight saving would provide for having to replace rims a lot more often from hitting ripple strips and so on on the track.

Been there done that a few years ago within Production Sports in NSw to set up an 80's series for the cars that were built before the money got really involved, but unfortunately not enough interest to get it to fly. Ten cars won't cut it with promoters in NSW or Qld you would need a minimum of 15 to make it work, and that is 15 commited to run at every meeting, not 15 in total with people having the occaisonal run, and then we will still be blown away by the modern guys and you have worry about not only your race, but the other cars coming through as well to lap you. For NSW FOSC meetings are the way to go, but for me too expensive to tow the car down from Brisbane four times a year. I'm looking at a coupleof options up here in Qld, the Queensland Raceway Top Gear series and QRDC run under trhe AASA umbrella. They seem pretty laid back and just out for fun, not racing for sheep stations. Not sure what cars I would be up against, but hopefully would be abel to race someone with similar times.

FOSC, or festival of sporting cars is the group you're thinking of. Still no good for most of us as they run to CAMS rules, hence my car is eligible for group 2B marque sports, but Ash's RB powered car would have to run as a 2A car. However they do mix and match categories, ie you will be running a mixed field of touring and sports cars based on times as well as with your own category. Also the fields are dependent on numbers. For example Improved Production generally run on there own as do the modern Proddy Sports cars and MX5's I wouldn't mind running their meetings but have nowhere to keep the car in Sydney now and it is too expensive and too much time to tow it down from Brisbane for four meetings a year.

Group T is no good to us unless you have a Production Sports Car logged Z that raced before December 31 1981. I have just been through the exercise to get my car recognised as a Group T car and to no avail. The car was built in 91, so 10 years to late and CAMS ruled out the option of being a compettition version of the car. So only group Sc if you are going to run a Z in Historics, a real shame as I would have enjoyed running at Historic meetings with a good mixture of cars and drivers who respect each others investments. Mine is too far gone with the modifications to the body to bring it back to Sc specs, so will be keeping it as is to run in hillclimbs and the odd FOSC circuit race plus the odd AASA meeting up here in Brisbane.

I just run the standard gauge. In 5 lap sprint races you keep going till the motor stops If the pressure drops low enough to worry about it then you've already done damage and will have to pull it all down anyways, so keep going, well that's what my mechanics would keep telling me as motors weren't costing me anything. I can still have the same attitude now I have 3 spare motors in various states of assembly. Also my motors were done cheap but right, the standard bottom end was never touched, except for the stroker and I only rev them to about 7200 as the don't make any power past 6800 with the 76 degree cam I run. So they are generally not too stressed. The only time I've had trouble with oil pressure in a L series engine was in my 180B when I was running a L18 out to 2.2 litres. Was pressurising the sump, cured that problem and then popped a head gsaket the next meeting, 12:1 compression is hard to control even with avgas. The Z runs all day at around 60lbs on the track and then at idle drops to 20lbs in the pits when hot. Never worry about the oil, it's more keeping the water cool when idling around as we ran without a fan for many years and only fitted a small manual electric fan when I first bought the car up to Brisbane.

If you don't want to run a catch can then you can run the piping back into the air filter if you are running the ramflow types. I saw that you didn't want to plumb into the manifold, so this will not be an option if you are running socks. I don't run a catch can, instead just run the standard piping back into the throttle body as per factory. It has raced for over ten years like this and I have only ever been asked where the second throttle return spring is on the linkages.

I'll be a happy chappy if the drivetrain losses are up at 50%, 150rwhp for my old motor will give me 300hp, woohoo I can quote the same numbers as the other big boys ;D It will be interesting to see what the drivetrain losses are and what effects different components and condition may have, also different tyre, wheel and gearing combos can have. I know tyre sizes can affect the final figures as can whether the gearbox is an auto or not as the torque convertor can act as a torque multiplier fo rthe dyno.